Difference between Exchange 2003 & Exchange 2007

Anyone interested in being an Exchange professional should know the differences between the 2003 and 2007 versions. Microsoft Exchange training does a good job of teaching the differences between the two. And of course, if you are already trained in 2003 you can engage in Exchange 2007 training to learn more. In fact, anyone interested in becoming an up to date professional will take Exchange 2007 training classes. The following differences are just some of the basics you should be aware of when it comes to Exchange Server 2003 and Exchanger Server 2007.

Exchange Server 2003

Exchange Server 2003 may be run on the Windows 2000 Server if the fourth service pack has already been installed. It may also be run on 32 bit Windows Server 2003. There is a new disaster recovery feature that is even better than before. It allows the server to experience less downtime. The Exchange Server 2003 received some features form Microsoft Mobile Information server as well. These include Outlook Mobile Access as well as ActiveSync. Improved versions of anti-spam and anti-virus were also included. Management tools for mailboxes and messages have been improved and Instant Messaging and Exchange Conferencing Server are now separate products. There are two versions available of Exchange Server 2003. These include the Enterprise edition and the Standard edition. There are many other features that are available on Exchange Server 2003.

Exchange Server 2007

When Exchange Server 2003 was released there were no immediate plans as to what would happen to the product. A 2005 edition was dropped and it was not until the end of 2006 that the new version was released. Some of the new features included integration of voicemail, improved filtering, Web service support, and Outlook Web Access interface. The new edition was run on a 64 bit x 64 version of Windows Server. This increase the performance significantly. There are quite a few improvements to Exchange Server 2007. These include better calendaring, improved web access, unified messages, and better mobility. From a system protection standpoint there is more clustering, antivirus, anti spam, and compliance included. The IT experience is improved overall with a 64-bit performance. Deployment is better; routing is simplified as well as the command line shell and GUI.

Top Ten Reasons to Upgrade to Exchange Server 2007Published: November 1, 2006

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 is designed to deliver increased protection for your business and

give anywhere access for your employees, while being operationally efficient to deploy, manage and

maintain. Should you upgrade? Here are ten reasons for you to consider. For more information,

peruse the detailed features listing and compare features across versions to help you discover all

that Exchange Server 2007 has to offer.

1. Keep your e-mail system running at lower cost

New data replication capabilities in Exchange Server 2007 drive increased availability at a

lower cost. Local Continuous Replication delivers database redundancy with rapid recovery,

minimizing the frequency of full tape backups. With Cluster Continuous Replication in

combination with Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS), active/passive clusters provide both

database and service redundancy without requiring expensive shared storage, even when

clusters span geographic locations.

2. Access e-mail, voice mail, calendar, and contacts from virtually anywhere, anytime

In Exchange Server 2007, your employees can access their important inbox information from

virtually anywhere using their desktop computer, laptop computer, a browser window from any

Internet-connected computer, their mobile device, and even using a basic telephone when no

Internet connectivity is available. Employees enjoy a rich and familiar experience based on

Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 functionality. Best of all, it’s all built in with centralized

management and robust security, making rich anywhere access possible for your entire

workforce instead of just a limited few.

3. Get affordable, enterprise-class mobile messaging that’s better than ever

Exchange makes enterprise-class mobile messaging a reality by offering industry-leading

scalability, native integration with compatible devices for lower total cost of ownership, and by

providing a variety of device options to suit today’s business needs. Building on the advances

in Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2, mobility features in Exchange Server 2007 raise the

bar on user experience and deliver improved manageability. Now desktop features such as

support for rich HTML, quick flags, sophisticated calendaring, and fast search are available on

mobile devices. In addition, Exchange Server 2007 provides more granular security policies

and enables users to perform basic tasks on their own (such as perform a remote wipe from

Outlook Web Access 2007).

4. Empower employees with unified messaging while saving money

With new unified messaging in Exchange Server 2007, employees can receive their e-mail,

voice mail, and faxes through a single inbox that can be accessed from anywhere. Employees

can manage all of their messages in one place just as they manage e-mail today. For example,

voice mail can be forwarded, or if the recipient adds text notes to the voice mail, messages can

be found using built-in search. With Exchange Server 2007, you can deliver these features

while lowering cost and complexity through consolidation of your voice mail infrastructure.

5. Get comprehensive protection from spam, viruses and phishing attacks

Exchange Server 2007 provides integrated antivirus, anti-spam and anti-phishing technologies

to stop the latest threats before they impact your business and employees. Multi-pronged

message filtering in the perimeter network is available through the Edge Transport server role.

For customers who prefer to use a service, similar capabilities are provided in the “cloud” (as

an Internet-based service) through Exchange Hosted Filtering*. Additionally, Forefront for

Exchange Server* protects Exchange servers from viruses and worms by utilizing multiple

antivirus engines simultaneously. To protect from evolving threats, filters are kept up to date

with frequent and automatic updates.

*Exchange Hosted Filtering and Forefront Security for Exchange Server are included with the

Exchange Server 2007 Enterprise CAL license.

6. Reduce compliance risk in a way that makes sense for your business

Exchange Server 2007 incorporates features specifically designed to help your business

comply with corporate, regulatory, and legal requirements. These features enable you to apply

retention rules, scan and act on messages in transport, flexibly journal, and perform rich text

searches across mailboxes in your organization. Exchange Server 2007 eases the toll often

placed on administrators charged with applying and enforcing compliance policies, while

avoiding adverse impact on employees and their productivity.

7. Take advantage of powerful Web access

Outlook Web Access (OWA) 2007 provides a rich, Outlook 2007-like experience in

a browser and is great for use at home, at an airport kiosk, at an internet café, at a

friend’s house, or anywhere where there is an Internet connection available. No VPN

or network tunnel is required. OWA enhancements in 2007 include a new

Scheduling Assistant to help employees efficiently book meetings, fast server-side

search, integrated unified messaging as well as new features to access documents

and attachments more easily from outside the office. With two-factor authentication

support and attachment viewing in HTML format, OWA also offers enhanced

security compared with previous versions.

• See a detailed demonstration on the new and improved Outlook Web Access

8. Boost administrator productivity with new tools

Exchange Server 2007 helps administrators save time and reduce effort with advanced

management tools. A new command line interface gives administrators complete, fine-grained

control over Exchange objects as well as the power to easily automate all types of operations

with scripts. In addition, the graphical management console has been completely updated, with

a more intuitive user interface, improved discoverability and a toolbox work center that

integrates diagnostics, monitoring, and troubleshooting tools including the Exchange Best

Practices Analyzer and the Exchange Troubleshooting Assistant.

9. Ease deployment and management

Deploying Exchange Server has never been easier. Exchange Server 2007 has a modern,

modular architecture based on server roles. The server role concept is integrated into setup

and deployment, helping to eliminate potential errors resulting from manual configuration,

reducing the surface area for malicious attacks, and simplifying day-to-day management.

Server roles are not tied to particular hardware configurations; they can be deployed on one

server machine or many**. The new Autodiscover feature further eases deployment - by

creating an automatic connection between Exchange Server and Outlook 2007 clients where

no special scripts or complex user intervention is required.

**The exception is the Edge Transport role that is intentionally designed to reside by itself in

the perimeter network.

10. Optimize your investment for future growth

As a native 64-bit application, Exchange Server 2007 breaks through past memory and cache

limitations for higher performance and increased scalability even as mailboxes sizes grow to

accommodate employees’ demands for more storage. The resulting reduction in input/output

(I/O) increases storage utilization so you can optimize existing storage investments or consider

lower cost storage options.